The Seahawk

Issue date: 11/20/08 Section: News

This past week, Dr. David H. Weaver from Indiana University hosted a special seminar entitled "The American Journalist in the 21st Century." The seminar showed an average characteristic of the American Journalist, part of an overall project that has spanned 30 years.

It is also part of a series of books, the latest of which came out in 2006. "The American Journalist in the 21st Century" sheds light on the demographic and educational backgrounds, working conditions, and professional and ethical values of print, broadcast and Internet journalists at the beginning of the 21st century.

The project involved surveys of 1,149 U.S. journalists via 50-minute telephone conversations. The seminar showed the results from the 1970s to 2007 and only featured basic poll questions.

"There's a lot more detail [in the book]. The book also features open-ended questions. These are just the highlights," Weaver said after his presentation.

According to the results of the telephone surveys, the American journalist is male and getting older across time. More journalists are republicans and have more degrees, although not in journalism.

The average income is rising steadily, except for women who are still trailing behind their male counterparts. Women don't usually stay in the journalism field and end up going to Public Relations or advertising jobs. Weaver explained that women tend to seek more creative jobs and the irregular hours. Men are more likely to stay in the journalism world than women.

The seminar also went into great detail about race, important qualities in the journalism job and job satisfaction. There was also a great deal of talk about the internet and its role in the journalism world. According to Weaver's research, because of the internet, journalists don't feel the need to get out information out as quickly anymore. Instead, most journalists feel that they have to make sense of it. Also, because of the internet, journalists feel the need to be more competitive by seeking training.

Another interesting subject that came up was the topic of several journalism practices that have gone out of style, such as pretending to be someone else or giving bribes for information. Journalism persistence and gaining possession of personal documents have increased.

Weaver's seminar had an interesting look on what the average American journalist is like and what it takes to survive in the world. Americans can only wonder what the future of journalists will be.

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